A PAIR OF EMPIRE ORMOLU-MOUNTED JAPANESE BLACK AND GOLD LACQUER AND PEWTER-INLAID EBONY SIDE CABINETS

BY FRANÇOIS-HONORÉ-GEORGES JACOB AND GEORGES JACOB, THE LACQUER LATE 17TH CENTURY

A PAIR OF EMPIRE ORMOLU-MOUNTED JAPANESE BLACK AND GOLD LACQUER AND PEWTER-INLAID EBONY SIDE CABINETS
By François-Honoré-Georges Jacob and Georges Jacob, the lacquer late 17th Century
Each with a rectangular white marble top above a panelled frieze concealing a mahogany-lined drawer, opened from inside the cupboard by a steel catch, above a panelled cupboard door one enclosing two adjustable shelves, the other one shelf, the interior lined in mahogany, with foliate borders, the shallow pilasters applied with flowerheads and foliage with foliate capitals, the bases with conforming bands, with panelled sides, each stamped 'JACOB D. R. MESLEE', the lacquer with European japanned over-decoration added when the cabinets were made
38 in. (96.5 cm.) high; 29 in. (73.5 cm.) wide; 18½ in. (47 cm.) deep (2)

Provenance

Almost certainly bought by Thomas, 2nd Marquess of Bath (1765-1837) for Longleat, Wiltshire and by descent to
John Alexander, 4th Marquess of Bath (1831-1896) and by descent at Longleat.

Lot Essay

The stamp of Jacob D. R. Meslee was used by François-Honoré-Georges Jacob and Georges Jacob between 1803 and 1813.

This magnificent pair of cabinets, incorporating panels of the finest 17th Century Japanese lacquer and jewel-like ormolu mounts, is conceived in the 18th Century tradition of the French marchands-merciers, a style evidently continued here by François-Honoré Jacob-Desmalter. Jacob-Desmalter was married to Adélaide-Anne, the daughter of the marchand Martin-Eloi Lignereux (1750-1809) in 1798. During the 1780's Lignereux was made a partner in the firm of the celebrated marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre and, upon Daguerre's retirement in 1793 was instrumental in the running of the business. It is therefore safe to assume that there would have been significant contact between Lignereux and Jacob-Desmalter. This influence is fundamental in the design of this pair of cabinets, continuing the tradition of re-using exceptional Japanese lacquer so successfully promoted by the marchands-merciers and executed under their direction by ébénistes such as Adam Weisweiler and Martin Carlin.

Daguerre, successor to Simon-Philippe Poirier's atelier, supplied many of the greatest collections assembled by the English aristocracy, particularly the Prince Regent, later George IV from his shop in Piccadilly, which he opened in the mid-1780's. This flow of furniture from France to England stopped abruptly during the French Revolution, but the Peace of Amiens in 1803 briefly opened the channels again and the English aristocracy flocked to Paris. It was during this respite that the Earl of Elgin, William Beckford and the Earl of Malmesbury made a number of significant purchases from Lignereux. This respite was quickly followed by the Napoleonic wars, which again prevented the English buying in France and it was not until ten years later that the English aristocracy started buying in Paris again.

As the surviving bills in the Longleat archives reveal, Thomas, 2nd Marquess of Bath travelled to Paris and purchased, on 24 August 1814, a pair of candelabra from Duval, an ormolu shade for three lights from Ravio, a case to pack a clock bought from Bochon, a Buhl cabinet bought from Maigret, and a pair of lamps for the Billiard Room from 'Jacob d'Emalter'. In view of the direct relationship that obviously existed by 1814, it seems more than probable that these cabinets were also purchased by the 2nd Marquess directly from Jacob frères, particularly as the date of the stamp employed would suggest that they were made just before trading resumed.

These cabinets are very much in the French tradition established by Joseph Baumhauer, dit Joseph in the cabinets he supplied to the duc d'Aumont, circa 1770 (Musée du château de Versailles). This legacy found particular favour amongst English collectors in the early 19th Century, and can be seen for instance in the pair of cabinets-on-stand executed by Vulliamy in 1803 for William Beckford out of the 'Buys' Japanese lacquer box (H. Roberts, 'Beckford, Vulliamy and Old Japan', Apollo, October 1986, pp. 338-9, fig. 1, pl. XIII and O. Impey and J. Whithead, 'Observations on Japanese Lacquer in the Collection of William Beckford', in D. Ostergard ed., William Beckford, 1760-1844: An eye for the Magnificent Yale, 2001, p. 216), whilst this basic form of marchand-mercier pier cabinets also found favour with the Prince Regent, later George IV, as can be seen by the pair of pietra dura cabinets supplied by Lignereux in 1803 (illustrated in H. Roberts, For the King's Pleasure, London, 2001, p.163, fig. 190).

Other information

Special Notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Saleroom Notice

A secretaire a abbatant en suite with the Longleat cabinets is in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle. This latter secretaire, together with a matching pair of side cabinets of exactly the Longleat form, save for the treatment of the lacquer panels of the doors, now at Buckingham Palace, were acquired by King George IV through the dealer Benois in Paris 1828. There is, therefore, the strong possibility that these cabinets originally formed part of the same as yet untraced commission as the secretaire and cabinets in the Royal Collection.
The secretaire is illustrated in H. Clifford Smith, Buckingham Palace, London 1931, plate 309, whilst the pair of side cabinets are hitherto unpublished.
We are extremely grateful to Sir Hugh Roberts KCVO, Director of the Royal Collection for this information.